Feyenoord coach Robin van Persie disagreed with the ‘surprising’ penalty awarded to Inter and provided an injury update for the second leg of their Champions League tie.
The Nerazzurri secured a 2-0 victory in Rotterdam thanks to goals from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez in each half.
“We started well, and the first half was decent, but we applied a lot of pressure without creating truly significant opportunities,” Van Persie told Ziggo Sport.
“Unfortunately, we then conceded on their first chance. We conceded too early in the second half, which diminished our momentum.”
The score could have been 3-0, but Timon Wellenreuther kept Feyenoord in the game with a penalty save against Piotr Zielinski.
The penalty was given after VAR review when Jeyland Mitchell was deemed to have clipped Thuram’s heel.
“Timon kept us in the match with the save on what was not a penalty,” Van Persie insisted.
“I thought it was a surprising and remarkable decision. The referee and VAR believed it was a penalty, but I disagree. Anyway…”
Van Persie Looks Ahead to Inter vs. Feyenoord Second Leg
Similar to Inter, Feyenoord has been dealing with injuries and had to make adjustments, also implementing a new system in only Van Persie’s second game as coach.
“My players worked hard. Mitchell hadn’t played a full 90 minutes in a while, Jakub Moder had also been out for some time, and it showed as the tempo and pressing decreased in the second half.”
“Inter also performed very well, but we still had a great opportunity with Moder hitting the crossbar, and then a good one-on-one chance for Ayase Ueda. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side tonight.”
The second leg will be at San Siro on Tuesday, March 11. While Givairo Read will return from suspension, Ibrahim Osman will be suspended after receiving a yellow card.
“That was an unfortunate moment, so we will have to reorganize again next week. Antoni Milambo has a slight chance of returning, and we will assess that over the next few days. Ueda played today, and I have some hope for Inbeom Hwang,” Van Persie concluded.